San Francisco

Ryan got a new position at Cerner and long story short, he's been in San Francisco since the end of May. He comes home on weekends and his time should have been over quite a while ago but because he is so awesome (his words, not mine :) they keep wanting him to come back to do more consulting work. Anywho, to bribe him to stay in SF longer, they flew us out to spend the week with him. He still had to work during the day but the girls and I kept busy and we all hung out in the evenings. We were both nervous about the 3 1/2 hour plane ride but they were both surprisingly awesome. We had so much for Emerson to do on the plane and Easton just slept and nursed- pretty easy.

Easton Claire getting ready for the plane ride.

Emerson fell at the Water Park the week before and had a massive bruise on her forehead for the whole trip. Awesome. My parenting skills on display for everyone to see...

Watching "Pickano" as Emerson calls it. (Pinocchio.)

We drove into the city one night and ate at Fisherman's Wharf.

Okay, it was the Hard Rock Cafe. I know- totally boring. I'm not really a seafood kind of gal and Ryan had been to Fisherman's Wharf earlier in his trip and had gotten his fix of crablegs or whatever it was he ate. My dinner was awesome. Boring but awesome.

The things we let her do to keep her busy...

Easton's cute outfit I was glad she got to wear. It's cold in the city!!!

But in Walnut Creek, where we stayed and Ryan worked, it was perfect. It's about 45 minutes outside of San Francisco.

Ryan had a working lunch we were able to tag along to.

I took the girls to the Lindsey Wildlife Museum on Thursday while Ryan worked. It's a place where people can take injured animals and they'll take care of them. Emerson loved it.

There was a bald eagle that had an injured wing that I thought was pretty cool. She was more impressed with the rabbit. Go figure.

Emerson- "Look, mom! A tortuga!"

Me- "Right! A turtle!"

Emerson- "No, mom. A tortuga!"

How do you argue with that? I love her Spanglish...

At the airport coming home. The trip was a success and it's nice to see where Ryan has spent the past 10 weeks. 2 more and he's home for good... Ryan being gone this summer has taught me two things- that I don't give myself enough credit and I can take care of my babies by myself and do a great job. And 2- that I appreciate everything my husband does even more than I already did. We are three lucky ladies to have him working so hard to give us such a good life.

5 Months!

Easton turned 5 months on Saturday- she's a pretty laid back baby and is constantly entertained by her big sister. She's so good about just chilling in her bucket seat while Emerson and I drag her all over the city to do fun things.

1 Week 1 Month
2 Months
3 Months

4 Months
5 Months!

One Great Weekend

The Hoyt clan came down to KC this weekend and we were able to see them quite a bit. Our kids change so quickly and since we only see each other a few times a year, it makes their visits that much more fun.

Carter and Emerson took to each other pretty well and they played great together. I think Katie and I have been waiting for this day for a long time! (Playing alone together, not needing constant attention!!!) It was glorious!


Evidently the twins love babies...

Evidently Easton does not love twins...


I love this picture- check out Easton's arms. Rolls and rolls and rolls.



So cute. Emerson looks sort of "special" in this one. Her crooked smile and the shoes. Still working on that one.

Saturday night, my friend Jennifer had her annual luau. We were there for a bit and then it was back to the Hoyts to hang out.
Emerson and Jen's daughter, Morgan. She (Morgan) was born 2 weeks before our wedding and is starting kindergarten next month. Crazy!!!


Long story short, we saw the Yoders and Bullcomings and had a quick rendevous. I got to meet Kamryn for the first time. And I thought Easton was small.

Peyton and Audrey were flower girls in a wedding (again, long story.) They were checking out their BFs Emerson and Easton.

The couch picture at the Hoyts (McLaughlin's, really.) It was seriously the hottest night ever, hence all the nakedness.

Best seat in the house, Carl's lap.
This NEVER happens- Emerson and Will playing nicely. They're worse than siblings, I swear.

Sweet Griffin hamming it up. Again, it was hot.
Audrey, not sure about Emerson's affection.

Okay, this is the best seat in the house...

Dora Party!

My friend, Dana, had a Dora party last Friday just for the fun of it. There were four 2 year old girls so it was pretty perfect. Dana did such a good job planning it out and had the Dora music going in the backyard also. Emerson had SO much fun and is still telling Ryan all about it.

They decorated their own sunglasses for their adventure.

Courtney had a Dora doll that Emerson never did set down.

The girls all set to go with their backpacks. Dana even made maps for them to look at- you can see Emerson's sticking out. (If you've never seen Dora it won't make much sense but if you have- pretty cute, huh?)

"Where are we go-ing?" clap clap clap...

"First, we have to go through the singing trees, then we'll go water the garden."

"Swiper, no swiping!" My mom had just gotten back from Vegas and given her that t-shirt. Perfect timing and she didn't take it off for 3 days. Pick your battles, right?

Getting ready to go over "Troll Bridge."

Easton just chilled on the deck while the girls explored. Such a good baby...

Dan turned on (what else) Dora for them and they went comatose.

Not letting go of that Dora...

Easton is so much more fun these days- it's like she's a real baby who acually sees you and recognizes your face. She's entertained by toys and will bat at a toy hanging on her car seat handle. I'm glad the "infant" stage is over (even though she was still pretty good!)